


Some Had Scars and Some Had Scratches

by Natileroxs



Series: Hold Your Horses Now [4]
Category: Hiveswap, Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Beta Read, Gen, Not his fault though, Time Travel Fix-It, beta jake is kinda a terrible father, mentions of joey and jude, more joey and jude in the proper fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 03:27:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16824184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natileroxs/pseuds/Natileroxs
Summary: You'd already lost two children to your self-destructive tendencies, you can't lose her too.





	Some Had Scars and Some Had Scratches

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I've done one of these. Last of the Beta Kids and then I'm moving on to the Alpha Kids. It's a little short but I'm actually reasonably happy with this one.
> 
> Big thanks to my friend ArcOnyx for beta reading this.

In the beginning, you had your sister. Your wicked stepmother cursed and abused both of you while you grew to care for each other in a platonic soulmate ship. But it was too much, and the call of the unknown was too strong. You couldn’t resist, so you left. You left your dear sister behind. It wouldn’t be the last time you disappointed someone.

Next was your wife. She was beautiful, a movie star in all her shining glory. She gave you two darling children, little Joey and Jude. She was a caring and kind woman who deserved to live a long, fulfilling life. Yet, she never did, falling to illness and wasting away as you watched.

There was Roxane, in between all the chaos of your love and your children, a baby who fell from the sky. You looked after her closely, carefully. You knew you and your sister had fallen from the sky as well, crashed first into the bakery of your now absent witch of a stepmother, and then into the small kennel of a beloved pet. Becquerel, as he would be called much later, had been a constant in your life even after you’d run away searching adventure.

As Roxane had grown, you had worked up the guts to tell her exactly what role she would play in the coming apocalypse. Her crushed expression will be ingrained in your brain forever. She let loose in her anger and hurt. You don’t and will never blame her for that.

You failed your young children, flesh and blood. Once their mother faded, they became a reminder of how much you tossed away in your own selfishness. So you pushed Roxane into them, to raise them instead of you. Joey and Jude grew up knowing you from photographs and whispered words, belongings, and broken promises.

You regret leaving them the most, leaving them on their own. You had this idea of giving them a way out of the hell the next decade would bring. But the way you did it, the portal to another world, was the thing that got them killed. They never came home and you wish you could turn back time so you could have your children back.

Returning to the island you had abandoned them for you found a crater, a large bit of rock and a squealing baby with bright green eyes, naive and innocent. You named her Jade and took her to your home on the island, ready to care for her as long as it takes. You refuse to let her down, to fail her.

That’s why when you hear screaming at two in the morning you are out the door and heading towards your granddaughter's bedroom as quickly as possible. Wrapping your hand around the barrel of a gun as you rush across the hall and making sure it’s loaded, you enter her room to find her missing. Another scream coming from outside, more feral and wild, and you hurry out the door and into the darkness. More screaming and with your gun raised, you follow the sound.

Becquerel growls and barks loudly as another figure hisses. Both Bec’s white fur and the ears of the other creature, not a dog or anything you’d seen before, stand out in the darkness. Something green sparks and both figures begin to light up green. You can see the other figure now properly, human-like but with big white dog ears.

She has long dark hair and an equally long black dress with full sleeves and she wears ruby red slippers and black and white striped stockings. She has a sort of unusual beauty about her, as she begins to hover in the air, sparking wildly.

You purposefully make a rustle and both Bec and the girl look at you. Bec quickly bounds over to you, forgetting the previous staredown he was in, and the girl simply looks at you. From what you can see from so far away, she wears round glasses with simple black frames. For a moment she seems irritated, more than likely due to you drawing Bec’s attention away from her, but then her face melts into something else.

She flies forward and comes to hover in front of you before dropping herself down on the ground. Her face is a mix of emotions, going from anger to pain to something resembling a mix of happiness and confusion. She doesn’t come to you at first, simply choosing to gaze across at you as Bec finally settles and rests at your feet. She begins to kick up dirt with her shoes and then bites her lip, bright green eyes tilting downward.

Very familiar green eyes.

“...Grandpa,” She mumbles and taps her fingers against her dress, playing with the fabric.

A small thought comes to mind.

“Jade?”

She nods, ever so slowly, and tilts her head to look at you. Her eyes are so distraught and the emotion looks ever so strange on her. She looks weary, tired and you can’t help but feel guilty for that. Somehow you know it’s at least half your fault for what she’s been through.

Instead of burying her in questions or burdening her by demanding explanations you’re sure she doesn’t have, you reach over and pull her arm over your shoulder, holding her up. It’s easy since she is almost as tall as you now and so you quickly usher her inside, up the stairs and sit her down on Jade’s bed. Your Jade, the younger one.

She rubs her eyes and shuffles to rest her head against the headboard as Bec hops on the bed. You look down at her. You just have one small question, the rest can wait until daylight.

“Are you okay?” 

She gives you a watery smile and nods ever so slightly. “I’m okay.” She holds out her hand and you take it. It’s warm.


End file.
